Since 2014’s Last Winter, Queens, New York rapper Bas has been releasing material through Dreamville Records/Interscope, both solo albums and appearances on label compilations. He’s earned a reputation for being an artist whose attention is paid closely to each facet of his image as Rap star: lyrical content, visual complements and live performances. Much like his label head J. Cole, Bas is a thoughtful, well-rounded creator with a consistent body of work that MCs with decades-long careers have yet to amass. Most recently, he released Milky Way, his third solo album and the follow-up to arguably his finest work to date, Too High to Riot. For that album, he famously released a visual for two-thirds of its track list. For Milky Way, which was released in August 2018, he’s already dropped visuals for “Boca Raton” (featuring A$AP Ferg), “Fragrance” (featuring Correy C.) and “Tribe” (featuring Cole).

Now, Bas has released the first Milky Way video for a feature-less song. On “Purge,” he raps about ridding the Earth of lesser rappers, leaving himself to stand alone. “I’m killing these ni**as off, call me the purge,” he spits. The hook hints at Bas’ need to purge himself of something, too (I need to reset myself without you / I won’t neglect myself without you / I had to test myself without you / I think I’m at my best without you“).

Bas Uses His Near-Death Experiences To Come Back To Life (Video)

In the video for “Purge,” Bas plays with themes of expulsion and catharsis, at least the chemically induced kinds. Directed by the Rec League (part of Bas’ “Fiends” crew), the video is both dark and psychedellic and features Bas tripping out between planes of reality. A neon sign lights up with the word “Milk,” which has been the term Bas has used throughout the Milky Way rollout to describe its content and more. Next come a neon eyeball, an ominous hallway, and Bas sitting in a barber’s chair. Once he’s freshened up, things get even weirder when he finds himself in front of the aforementioned neon eye.

#BonusBeat: Bas appears on Buddy’s recently released deluxe version of Harlan & Alondra, his standout 2018 album. Along with J.I.D, BJ The Chicago Kid, Ari Lennox, Gupadad 4000 and Kent Jamz, Bassy hopped on Buddy’s “Link Up.”